Complete guide to Excel 2016 (Part 1): Get familiar with Microsoft Excel

Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet processing program designed to record, present processing information in tabular form, perform calculations and build visual statistics in the table.

Although you can assume that Excel is only used by some people when processing complex data, in fact, any of us can learn how to use the program's useful features. .

Whether you are keeping a budget, building a training record, or creating an invoice, Microsoft Excel will make it easier to work with different types of data. Let's TipsMake.com get acquainted with Microsoft Excel 2016 in this article!

See the video below to learn more about Microsoft Excel:

Get familiar with Excel

If you used Excel 2010 or Excel 2013, then using Excel 2016 will feel familiar. If you are new to Excel or have a lot of experience with older versions, you should first take the time to familiarize yourself with Excel's interface.

Excel interface

When you open Excel 2016, the Start Screen Excel screen will appear. Here, you can create a new spreadsheet, select a template and access your recently edited spreadsheets.

1. From Excel's Start Screen screen , find and select a blank worksheet to access the Excel interface.

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1. Click on the interactive buttons illustrated below to familiarize yourself with the Excel interface.

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Work with Excel

The Ribbon and Quick Access Toolbar are where you will find commands to perform common tasks in Excel. The Backstage view function will give you different options for storing, opening files, printing and sharing documents.

Ribbon toolbar

Excel 2016 uses a Ribbon system consisting of tabs instead of traditional menus. The Ribbon toolbar contains many tabs, each with several groups of commands. You will use these tabs to perform the most common tasks in Excel.

1. Each tab will have one or more groups.

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1. Some groups will have a drop-down arrow, you can click to get more options.

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1. Click the tab to see more commands.

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1. You can adjust the Ribbon toolbar display with Ribbon Display Options .

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1. Certain programs, such as Adobe Acrobat Reader , can install additional tabs on the Ribbon toolbar. These tabs are called custom add-ins commands.

Change the Ribbon display option:

The Ribbon toolbar is designed to meet your current task, but you can choose to minimize it if you find it takes up too much screen space. Click the Ribbon Display Options arrow in the upper right corner of the Ribbon to display the drop-down menu.

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There are three modes in the menu Ribbon Display Options :

1. Auto-hide Ribbon : Automatically hide your spreadsheet in full screen mode and completely hide the Ribbon toolbar. To display the Ribbon toolbar, click the Expand Ribbon command at the top of the screen.

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1. Show Tabs : This option hides all groups of commands when not in use, but the tabs will still show. To display the Ribbon, simply click on the tab.

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1. Show Tabs and Commands ( Display of Tabs and Commands command) : This option maximizes the Ribbon toolbar. All tabs and commands will be displayed. This option is selected by default when you open Excel.

Quick Access Toolbar

Just above the Ribbon toolbar, the Quick Access Toolbar allows users to access common commands no matter which tab you choose. By default, it includes Save , Undo and Repeat commands. You can add other commands depending on your preference.

Add commands to the Quick Access Toolbar:

1. Click the drop-down arrow to the right of the Quick Access Toolbar .

2. Select the command you want to add from the drop down menu. To select from more commands, select More Commands .

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3. The command will be added to the Quick Access Toolbar .

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How to use Tell me:

The Tell Me box acts as a search bar to help you quickly find the tools or commands you want to use.

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1. Enter a search phrase in the Tell me box about what you want to do.

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2. The results will give you some relevant options. To use, click on an option.

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View the worksheet

Excel 2016 has many options to change how your spreadsheet is displayed. These views may be useful for different tasks, especially if you are planning to print spreadsheets. To change the worksheet view, look for the commands in the bottom right corner of the Excel window and choose Normal view , Page Layout view or Page Break view ( View page break ).

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1. Normal view is the default view for all spreadsheets in Excel.

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1. The page view shows how your spreadsheet will appear when printed. You can also add titles and footers in this view.

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1. Page break view allows you to change the page break location, especially useful when printing multiple data from Excel.

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Backstage view function

The Backstage view function gives you different options to save, open files, print and share Workbook files in Excel.

To access Backstage view:

1. Click the File tab on the Ribbon. The Backstage view will appear.

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1. Click the illustrated buttons in the interaction below to learn more about how to use the Backstage view .

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See also: Complete guide to Excel 2016 (Part 2): Learn about OneDrive

Having fun!